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Blind Spot
"Blind Spot" is the seventh episode of the first season, and the seventh episode in the series overall. It was written by executive story editor Wendy Calhoun and directed by Michael Watkins. It first aired on April 27, 2010. Plot Synopsis Raylan and Ava survive a hitman's attack, and Raylan suspects that the Crowder family is trying to get revenge on Ava. But are his own biases clouding his judgment? Recap Inside a hardware store, Ava shops for packing tape. Suddenly, Johnny Crowder enters and begins asking about rope to tie up a deer, a shovel to dig a hole, plastic sheeting and, oh yeah, a chainsaw. The implication is clear: Ava is a dead woman. Ava smirks and tells the shop owner to "put it on my tab," referring to the items on shopping list. Helen Givens has been listening, and orders Johnny out of the store at shotgun point. Retorts Johnny on the way out: "Tell Raylan I said 'hey.'" Later, Raylan visits Ava and finds her packing her bags. She is considering leaving town — and talks of shooting her husband. "Killing a man — it's a big deal, isn't it?" she asks. Depends on whether it's justified. Later that night, a masked figure bursts into the bedroom where Ava and Raylan are asleep and starts blasting blindly with a shotgun. Raylan quickly grabs Ava and rolls off the bed. He then leaps to his feet, struggles with the gunman and tosses him out the second-story window. The shadowy figure gets up and runs as Raylan shoots at him. A close call. "Thanks for being here," Ava says. Later, the cops tell Raylan they have discovered blood on the lawn, but no body. The man escaped. So Raylan and Sheriff Hunter head out to question Johnny. On the way, Hunter explains how Johnny's relative Henry Crowder raped and murdered Hunter's 10-year-old niece. Hunter has been searching for Henry ever since — and the Crowder clan knows it. The pair enters a bar and finds Johnny playing pool. "Take your clothes off," Hunter growls. He wants to look for evidence that the man was shot and fell out a window. It's pretty clear he didn't, but Hunter pushes the issue. He is a very angry officer of the law. Finally, Raylan steps in and holds Johnny while Hunter pulls up his shirt. No wounds. No bruises. No shooter. Cut to a dingy room inside a dingy house. A young man, Red, sits in a chair, bleeding profusely. An older man, Mr. Duke, who had earlier been watching Ava outside the police station stands over Red. "I'm so sorry!" Red sobs. "I screwed up! I know I did!" Mr. Duke videotapes Red — and then pokes him in what looks to be a gunshot wound. "You should do something about that before it gets infected," Mr. Duke taunts. Later, Raylan visits the office, handing Ava over to Rachel for safekeeping. Art is furious that he is again involved. "Just what part of 'being under investigation' confuses you?" Art sarcastically asks. "You shot somebody else — at her house!?" He yells at Raylan for sleeping with the witness in his own shooting, which is the one thing Art asked him not to do. Raylan, for his part, can hardly protest. Perhaps sleeping with Ava wasn't justified. Later, Winona introduces herself to Ava, who she remembers from the interview with the AUSA. "I'm Raylan's ex wife," she said. "You ever been tangled up with a law enforcement officer?" Ava isn't sure what to say. Cut to prison, where Raylan meets Boyd. "You don't know anything about somebody taking a shot at Ava?" Raylan asks. Boyd claims to know nothing about the matter. Raylan then suggest that perhaps Boyd's father, who is also locked up, had something to do with it. Instead of answering, Boyd begins to preach — which is the very last thing Raylan wants to hear. He springs across the table, to choke Boyd against the wall. Guards quickly break up the scuffle. "I'm so very disappointed in you," says an eerily calm Boyd. Cut back to the dingy house, where Red is feeling much better. Mr. Duke, meanwhile, is still angry. "You were to spot — that's it!" Mr. Duke says. "You see, there's rules to being a hit man." So we're dealing with a hit man and his "apprentice." But who hired them? Later, a calmer Raylan once again sits down with Boyd. "Anyway, you were saying?" Raylan says. Boyd tells the marshal that his father swore not to hurt Ava — for now. Instead, Boyd theorizes that perhaps the mysterious hit man wasn't after Ava at all. Perhaps the shotgun-wielding assailant was there to "off" Raylan himself. Raylan is shocked at the thought — mostly because it makes perfect sense with his history of making enemies. Then Boyd drops another potential bomb: "How well do you know Sheriff Hunter?" Sure enough, we cut to Hunter meeting with Mr. Duke and his young apprentice, Red. The talk soon turns to Raylan. "We can set him up so you can put him down at a distance," Hunter tells Mr. Duke, who claims to have been given "very specific orders." In other words, the men from Miami who ordered the hit on Raylan want it up close and personal. Suddenly, Hunter pulls his gun and shoots Mr. Duke dead where he sits. "Jesus Christ!" Red screams. Hunter then explains that the cartel isn't going to like the fact their hired gun is dead, so "We have to give them what they want... Raylan Givens." Hunter then calls Raylan, who is on to the sheriff thanks to Boyd. "You know I got Ava?" Hunter asks. "Pay careful attention now — or she dies." So Raylan meets Hunter on a rural road. Raylan demands proof of life. Sure enough, Ava has been bound and gagged in Red's van. Raylan drops (supposedly) all his weapons and gets into the driver's seat of Hunter's police cruiser. Hunter calls the U.S. Marshals and threatens to shoot Raylan "in the back of the head" if he sees any officers approaching as the cruiser and the van attempt to escape. Hunter then explains that the cartel approached him with an offer: they'd deliver Henry Crowder if Hunter did them a "favor." Meanwhile, Ava has worked out of her bonds — and attacks Red in the driver's seat of the van. It swerves and then crashes to the side of the road. Raylan takes advantage of the distraction and promptly reaches back to disarm Hunter, breaking his wrist in the process. He has Hunter cuff himself before approaching the van to find Ava is alright. Red, in the meantime, is unconscious at the wheel. Case closed, but not the episode. Cut to the prison, where some inmates surround Boyd and confront him about talking to Raylan. They accuse him of being a "snitch," brandish an edged weapon and start beating him viciously. Suddenly, a big man roughly intervenes, telling the accusers that they are not to touch a "man of God." Boyd smiles. "It's good to see you, Daddy," he says. Appearances First Appearances #Mike Jackson - Owner of a local hardware store #Red - Spotter for Mr. Duke and would-be-killer of Raylan and Ava. He later kidnaps them with help from Hunter and intends to kill them but fails. #Bo Crowder - Criminal and father of Boyd Crowder who saves him from a prison confrontation Deaths #Mr. Duke - Hitman for the Miami Drug Cartel. Shot by Hunter Mosley. Production Cast Starring cast *Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens *Nick Searcy as Art Mullen *Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder *Jacob Pitts as Tim Gutterson (credit only) *Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks *Natalie Zea as Winona Hawkins Guest cast *M.C. Gainey as Bo Crowder *Linda Gehringer as Helen Givens *James Immekus as Red *Ray McKinnon as Mr. Duke *David Meunier as Johnny Crowder *Brent Sexton as Hunter Mosley *Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder Co-stars *Jack N. Harding as Jeb *Howard S. Miller as Mike Jackson *Kevin Thomas as Corker Gallery S2.jpg External links *List of Justified episodes on Wikipedia - Season 1 section *Justified Episode Guide on FX, Season 1 *"Blind Spot" at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) Category:Season 1 episodes